


Catch Me When I Fall

by rilley_angelina



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Artist Clarke, Bellamy Blake is a History & Mythology Nerd, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Found Family, Friends With Benefits, Mainly Clarke's POV but some others as well, Multi, Quote: "When are we gonna do something about this unspoken thing between us?" "What unspoken thing?", RA Bellamy, Secret Relationship, bellamy is just an ass at first, but like not really enemies, clarke is french, maybe smut, no finn because I hate him with a burning passion, we will see, well they think its a secret but everyone knows they are a thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-23 15:04:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rilley_angelina/pseuds/rilley_angelina
Summary: Clarke's life hasn't been the easiest thus far so she does what anybody in her position would do, move to a foreign country.***Clarke moves to Boston from Paris to go to college and to find herself after the deaths of her parents. She soon meets the delinquents and figures out the family is more than just blood.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, John Murphy/Raven Reyes, Monty Green/Nathan Miller, Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> please be nice this is the first fan fiction, or anything, that I have written and posted publicly.

When I decided to move my whole entire life to a different country; I had no idea that it would be this hard. I always knew I didn’t belong but leaving has taught me that maybe I don’t belong anywhere. I left France to start over. To find out who I truly was. I applied for colleges all over the world but the United States was my dream. So when I got accepted into Boston University I booked the first flight there. I remember my mother telling me about her childhood in America and how she missed it everyday. When she was eighteen she moved to France to find herself and eventually fell in love. Then a few years later I was born. My childhood was happy, great even. I had two loving parents and I lived in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  
But when I was thirteen my father was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died 7 months later, the day after my fortieth birthday. My heart was broken. However, my mother took it very hard. She had lost the love of her life. She found a new love though: drugs. At first I thought it would be a temporary thing. I always thought she would pull herself out of it eventually. But then on the second anniversary of my father’s death, she overdosed. I had been at my boyfriend’s house at the time so I didn’t find her until the next morning. There was no one that could’ve saved her. At least that's what my therapist had said.  
After my mother’s death I moved in with my godparents, Rosie and Marcus. They were lovely people that I had known my whole life. They never wanted children but they were so excited to have me. Though I felt bad, like I was intruding on their life. No matter how many times Rosie told me that I wasn’t a burden I always felt like one. I wasn’t exactly the easiest teenager to manage. I had severe depression that made it hard for me to even get out of bed most days. I didn’t have many friends and I spent most of my time crying. When I finally started going to therapy and taking medication I got back to normal. Well as normal as I’ll ever be. I threw myself into my studies. I knew that if I ever want to go to college in the United States I would have to have a GPA that shows I would be able to. So when I finally graduated and got accepted into BU, I was so excited to leave the place that held so many horrible memories.


	2. Canyon Moon by Harry Styles

“Are you sure you have to go?” Rosie asked right before we got to the security check line. She’s worried that I’m going to change my mind. To be fair, I've always been very indecisive.  
“Yeah Rose, I’m sure. I need to go.” I pulled her in for a hug.  
“Your parents would be so proud of you.” She said into my ear before pulling back. I could feel the tears prick the back of my eyes.  
“Clarke, you’re going to do great things. We are so happy for you. And we will always be here if you need us.” Marcus said cutting off the tears that were threatening to over spill.  
“Thank you guys, for everything that you have done for me. I’ll call you when I make it to my dorm. I love you.” I gave them one last look before joining the line of people waiting to go through security.  
***  
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning our final descent into Boston. The local time is 10:37 am and the temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. We hope you have a great trip and thank you for flying Delta.” The voice over the intercom woke me up from sleep. I hadn’t even noticed that we were almost there when I drifted off. Usually I wasn’t able to sleep on planes but the last few days I’ve been up all night anxious about the move.  
When the plane landed and I retrieved my bag, I pulled out my phone to text Rosie and tell her I made it. I also ordered an uber to my dorm since I didn’t want to take my suitcase on public transport. I don’t know how it is here but taking bags on the metro in Paris is always a risky thing. My uber arrived a few minutes later and I put my suitcase in the trunk.  
“Hello, Clarke?” the driver asked as I opened the door to the back seat.  
“Yes, that's me.” I replied, hoping he would get the memo that I didn’t want to make small talk. He seemed to understand and kept the talking to a minimum. The car ride consisted of me trying to write up a list of things I would need to buy for my dorm room. Since I moved from a completely different country I would have to buy a lot of stuff. Luckily my parents were pretty well off so I didn’t have to worry about how to pay for University and other things I might need. Although I should probably get a job soon because I don’t want to spend all the money I have.  
“Ma’am we’re here. Would you like some help with your bags?” The middle aged man asked me.  
“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you.” I scooted out of the back seat and grabbed my suitcase from the trunk. There were many people here with cars full of stuff. I felt out of place with my suitcase and backpack. I walked past families helping their new college students unload their massive amounts of stuff and bringing it inside. I made my way to the doors and to the makeshift check-in desk.  
“Hi, last name please?” the woman asked when I got to the front of the line.  
“Uh, Griffin, Clarke.” I stated taking in my surroundings.  
“ Ah here you are. A foreign exchange student. Here is your schedule and your dorm key. You will be in room 137,” She handed me a key card and a piece of paper, “Oh and Clarke, good luck. You’ll love it here.” I muttered a thank you and hopped on the elevator to the second floor. The doors opened, I stepped out lugging my suitcase with me. I turned right hoping my room was this way. 133… 135... 137… perfect. I knocked on the closed door and turned the doorknob, it’s unlocked. Once the door was ajar I glanced into the room immediately seeing a girl unpacking some trash bags.  
“Uh, Hello?” I said loud enough to be heard over the music.  
“Ah!” The black haired girl screamed whipping around with a hanger in her hand, “You scared the shit out of me.”  
“Sorry,”I stepped further into the room, “I’m Clarke, you’re roommate.”  
“Yeah right, the french girl,” She stuck out her hand for me to shake just as I went to kiss her on the cheek, “Oh yeah I forgot you Europeans do the kissing thing.” She retracted her hand and kissed me on both cheeks.  
“Sorry, I’m just so used to it.” I said shyly, making a mental note in my head to stick to handshakes.  
“No, I like it. I think it’s cute. I’m Octavia but you can call me O. It's nice to meet you. Do you need help grabbing the rest of your stuff?” She glanced at my suitcase and back to my face.  
“Actually this is all of it.”  
“Ok great because I really don’t want to lug more things up here! Don’t most of you foreign kids come with a shit ton of stuff though?” she questioned.  
“Uh I don’t know.” I went over to the bed I assumed was mine and sat down.  
“Well most of the foreigners are rich, that's why they come here. Their parents pay for them to come to University in the United States of America.” She said the last part like she had poison in her mouth.  
“Oh, no I’m not really like that.” I tried to avoid the topic of my parents as much as possible.  
“Cool.” She turned back to unpacking. I jumped off my bed and began to unpack my stuff. Since I only bought one bag it didn’t take me that long. Meanwhile Octavia seemed to have brought her whole life with her. I feel like it’s going to take forever for her to finish, “Clarke, do you have any bedding with you or anything?” she asked.  
“No, I was just going to take an uber to a store and buy some.” I explained.  
“I can drive you,”she offered, “I mean if you want.”  
“Yeah that’d be great, thanks.”  
“Ok lets go now.” Octavia grabbed her keys from her desk and we made our way to the elevator. “They usually pair up the foreigners with Boston natives to make it easier for them to adjust.”  
“Oh that's nice. So you’ve lived here all your life.” I followed her off the elevator and to the parking lot outside.  
“Yep.” She said popping the P.

We arrived at target and made a b-line for the dorm room section. “Ok, so what do you need?” Octavia asked as we looked at the bedding.  
“Basically everything besides clothes and toiletries.” I really didn’t bring anything with me. It would have been way too expensive to bring everything from home.  
“Shit okay.” She started putting things in the cart that I would need, of course asking my opinion on things. It only took us three hours to get everything. Including some food. I’m glad that the shopping is over but I’m really dreading dragging all this stuff up to our room. We were driving back to the dorm when Octavia said, “I’m gonna text some of my friends to help us move all this stuff into our room.”  
“Oh thank god, I really didn’t want to do it all by myself.” I said relieved.  
“Babes, I would never do that to you.” She pulled me in for a side hug once when we got out of the car. I grabbed some stuff from the trunk and made my way up to the dorm.  
Setting down stuff on the bed I heard a knock on the door, “Hey, I’m looking for Octavia. I think this is her room.” A dark haired boy said from the hallway.  
“Uh yeah she’s at her car. I’m her roommate, Clarke.” I went to shake his hand remembering that Americans don’t kiss on the cheek. But he went to kiss me on the cheek, “Oh so Octavia told you about me.” I said kissing his other cheek.  
“Yeah she may have mentioned in our group chat that her new roommate was French.”  
“Great.” I said standing there awkwardly.  
“We should probably go help the others with the rest of your stuff.” He said pointing towards the door.  
“ Ah ouais.” I said, “Sorry I’m still getting used to speaking English.”  
“No it’s fine, maybe you could teach me french sometime.” We stepped onto the elevator.  
“Sure!” So now I have two friends here. Maybe being in college won’t be so bad.

I saw O standing in the parking lot with a few other people around the car, “There you are! I see you’ve met Jasper,” So that’s his name. “This is Raven and Harper, they have been my best friends since kindergarten. And this is Monty”  
“Nice to meet you, Clarke”  
I smiled at all of them, “So should we start moving all this stuff?”  
“Yeah.” everyone courses and we all made our way to grab things out of the car.

With everyone helping it only took two trips to get everything into the dorm. I’m really glad that I am rooming with Octavia. Her and her friends are all really nice and definitely seem like my type of people. Once we moved everything inside everyone left besides O, obviously. We both worked at putting all of our stuff away while music played. She insisted that we had to listen to music because it’s “the only thing that keeps her alive.” To be fair I also prefer music over silence. I can’t believe that I’m actually here. Like I am in America going to the college of my dreams and I’ve already met some amazing people. I wish I could call my mom and tell her all about it. She would be so happy that I am doing something that I love.  
“So,” Octavia hopped on my bed once she was finished setting up her side of the room, “You said that you didn’t come from a rich family like the other foreign exchange students but you also just dropped so much fucking money at Target so you must have some type of wealthy family.”  
I knew I was never going to get away with not explaining my past but I just wanted to live in the unknown for a little longer. “Well, I never said that I didn’t have money; I just said that I wasn’t a privileged kid. But if you must know, my parents died and left all their money to me because I am an only child.” I busied myself with putting things on my desk so I wouldn’t have to see the sympathetic look on her face.  
“Shit I’m sorry Clarke. You really didn’t have to tell me.”  
“I know but we live together you were going to find out at some point.” I explained while going to sit on the bed next to her.  
“Do you miss them?” It was a simple question. But it nearly broke me.  
“More than anything. I remember them being so in love, so happy. My dad was the most genuine person in the world. He was so kind and generous. He truly loved to help people. And my mom was incredibly smart, almost annoyingly so,” I said with a laugh, “I would give anything in the world to be able to tell them about my first day at university. And tell them that I love them. But I know that they are looking after me from wherever they are.”  
“Clarke, I’m sure that they would be so proud of you.” She gave me a hug and wiped the tears that I didn’t even notice from my face. “Ok enough of the sad shit. Do you want to go get dinner?”  
“Sure I’d love to.”  
“Great because my favorite cafe isn’t far from here and you need to try it.” She jumped off the bed and held out her hand for me to follow.  
***  
We ate at the cafe which was super cute. I got a burger because Octavia said they were the best. It was really good but I’m definitely going to have to adjust to American food. That’s something that I’ll really hate about leaving France, the food. But so far I think that America is where I’m supposed to be. I can see why my mom always missed being here. It’s completely different from what I’m used to. Of course I’ve been to America to visit my mom’s family but it’s different when you are on your own. Speaking of being on my own, I need to call Rosie and let her know that I’m okay.  
“Clarke! Thank god I thought you were never going to call.” She answered after the second ring.  
“Yeah yeah, I’m okay. My roommate is great. Her name is Octavia. I went to the store and bought all the things for my dorm and we just got back from eating dinner.” I rushed through trying to tell her about the important bits.  
“Oh good. I’m glad you have a friend already. Are there any cute boys?” Of course that would be the question she asked, “Or girls you know.”  
“Yes there are a lot of cute people but I didn’t come here for them Rose, I already told you I’m going to focus on my studies. Besides, we all know what happened the last time I was in a relationship.” Flashbacks of the night my mother died popped into my head.  
“Oh chérie you know that was never your fault.” I could hear the frown on her face.  
“Yeah I know. How’s Marcus? Does he miss me already?”I questioned moving on from the sour topic.  
“Oh you know he does, even if he won’t admit it. I caught him staring at your place at the table while we were eating dinner,” she giggled but I could tell she was sad, “It’s just going to get some getting used to not seeing your face everyday.”  
“Yeah, I miss you guys so much already but I love it here. I truly feel like this is where I belong.”  
“Chérie, I know that you will do amazing things there. And we all couldn’t be more proud of you. But that doesn’t mean we won’t miss you everyday that you are gone. But we are planning on visiting for Christmas. I figured you wouldn’t be able to come home and we haven’t had a Christmas without you since you were born so it would feel weird not to be there with you.” It’s true. Every year Rosie and Marcus would come over to our house and we would have our family Christmas. It was always the five of us against the world.  
“Yeah, you should definitely come for Christmas,” I looked at the time on my phone, “Rosie I gotta go, I’m so tired and it’s already midnight.”  
“Ok goodnight ma chérie. I love you.”  
“I love you too.”


	3. Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi

I awoke to my alarm going off at 7 in the morning. I completely forgot to turn it off since yesterday. Since I was already awake I decided to go take a shower, hoping that the bathrooms were mostly empty. I grabbed my bag of toiletries trying not to wake Octavia in the process. I creaked open the door to our room trying to avoid letting the hallway light in. Finally, I made my way down the hall to the showers.  
Nobody was to be seen, great. I picked a shower stall towards the back of the room and removed my clothes. I turned on the water only to be met with pure ice cold. “Ah!” I screamed jumping back out of the stream of water. Please tell me I didn’t wake anyone up. I reached around the water and turned the knob all the way hot. Almost instantly the water ran hot and I stepped under it savoring the heat. I quickly washed myself and turned off the faucet. I wrapped my body in a towel and stepped out of the shower. I made my way over to the sink and brushed my teeth. By the time I finished a few other people started entering the bathroom.  
I entered the dorm to see that Octavia was still sound asleep. Turning on the lamp that was set on my desk I began thinking about what to wear. Since we had to do some freshman orientation activities I decided on jeans and t-shirt. I threw on some makeup and brushed out my blonde hair. Trying to dry it the best I could with my towel. Waiting for my hair to not be soaking wet I grabbed my laptop and sat on my bed. I opened up the school main page and scrolled through all the activities today trying to pick out the ones I wanted to attend.  
“Clarke?!” Octavia exclaimed, “Do you want to come with me to get breakfast?” Apparently she had been calling my name for a while.  
“Uh yeah sure.” Now that I thought about it, I was quite hungry. I jumped off my lofted bed and slipped in my shoes. “Do you want to just go to the cafeteria since we have orientation at 11?”  
“Uh yeah. I forgot about that.” We walked out into the hallway and walked in the opposite way of the showers. The cafeteria was only a 10 minute walk from our dorm so we made it there in no time. “Oh do you mind if everyone else joins us?” Octavia asked as we got in line for pancakes.  
“No that's fine.” We grabbed our food and sat down at a large round table. I peeled back the packet of syrup and dumped it over my pancakes and eggs. It’s safe to say that I have a major sweet tooth.  
“I never understood people who do that.” Octavia commented while cutting into her own stack of pancakes.  
“What do you mean?” I took a bite of my now sweetened eggs.  
“The syrup on the eggs. That shit grosses me out. Bell does the same thing.” Bell. Who’s Bell? I was just about to ask when a group of people walked up to our table. I noticed it was everyone of Octavia’s friends I met yesterday plus another boy, or should I say man. He had shaggy dark hair and eyes to match. His smooth tanned skin contrasted against the crisp white of his t-shirt. “Bellamy! I thought you would be busy setting up for orientation.”  
“No, I helped last night.” His voice was rough and full of sleep. Fuck, he was hot.  
“Oh okay,” Octavia then turned to me, “this is my roommate, Clarke. She’s from France.” I wish she hadn’t introduced me because now his eyes were on me and I couldn’t help but flush. Before I knew what I was doing I stood up and made my way over to greet him, the french way. My lips made contact with his right cheek and I could feel the stubble on my lips. I moved to kiss his left cheek and briefly met his eyes. I could feel my cheeks redden and just hoped he hadn’t noticed. I kissed his cheek and quickly returned to my seat while grumbling out a ‘nice to meet you.’  
HOLY FUCK! Why the hell did I just do that? I really need to lose that habit, preferably 10 minutes ago. “Well where’s my kiss?” Jasper asked while taking a seat. Before I could even reply Octavia smacked him on the arm. Glad that that whole encounter was over with I started eating my food again. I glanced up from my plate to see Bellamy sitting across from me making small conversation with the rest of the table. He turned his head and met my gaze. I smiled at him only to see him look away.  
“So, Clarke, how are you liking college?” Raven asked once the banter between everyone died down.  
“I love it. Although today is my first full day and classes haven’t even started. I’m sure when I’m drowning in homework I won’t love it as much.” I said lightly laughing at the end.  
“Oh yeah. I could do without that. Are you homesick yet? I’m sure your parents miss you already.” The comment caught me off guard and I dropped my fork.  
“Raven, no.” Octavia muttered, shaking her head. I looked up from my fallen fork.  
“I’m not really homesick now but I’m sure I will be later.” I answered her question avoiding the statement about my parents.  
“Do you think you’ll go home for Christmas?” Raven continued to question.  
“I’m not sure yet. Plane tickets are pretty expensive so I might just end up staying here.” I avoided mentioning anything about Rosie and Marcus because it would just draw more attention to my family situation.  
“Well you can always spend Christmas with us. We always do secret santa.” I’m thankful that she doesn’t ask another question about my family.  
“Yeah sounds fun.” Other conversations have already started by the time Raven stops asking questions.  
“Okay so we are going to the library tour and the advisor meeting. Anything else?” I catch the end of Monty talking about orientation.  
“Nope I think that's it but there's a party at Delta Sigma Phi if you guys wanna go.” Harper added.  
“Ooh a frat party. I’m down.” Octavia said.  
“Yes, please I’ve never been to a frat party. Obviously.” I speak up.  
“Ok then it's settled. Boring orientation then its party time.”  
***  
“God this is so boring!” Octavia exclaimed as we walked around the library. The tour guide at the front of the group turns around and gives her a pointed look. I smile and bow my head trying not to draw attention to myself. We had already gone to the advisor meeting and now we were about halfway through the library tour. Safe to say that Octavia was not enjoying herself  
“Come on we’re almost done then we can go get ready for tonight.” Raven said, trying to be positive. Octacia was right though; this tour is really boring.  
“Jasper, are we going to Bell’s for pre drinks?” My attention is now fully on the conversation at the mention of the tanned boy from before. Who unfortunately had other things to do then come with us to orientation.  
“Uh yeah. Can’t go until 7 though apparently he has a thing.” He replied, rolling his eyes at the end. It was only 4 so I had plenty of time to get ready before then.  
“Great. Do you guys wanna come to our dorm to get ready?” Octavia turned, directing her question towards the other girls. They nodded and we continued with this god awful tour.

***  
“I know this is your first frat party and it will be great but you also need to be very careful.” Octavia said as we waited in our dorm for the other girls to arrive.  
“I know.” Even in Europe we are aware of the dangers of american university culture.  
“I’m serious Clarke. Even if someone seems nice and caring you don’t truly know them. Don’t go anywhere alone with someone, especially a boy, and come find me if you ever feel uncomfortable.” She lectured.  
“O, I will be fine. Trust me, I've been to tons of parties and I know how to take care of myself.” She nodded her head satisfied with my response. When I was twelve, my mom made me take a course so I could protect myself. I was always glad she did that. I never wanted to be underprepared. My mom was very protective of me. Sometimes it would drive me crazy but I know she just didn’t want anything to happen to me. She would probably have an anxiety attack if she knew I was going to a frat party. I smile sadly at the thought of her. I really wish she were here.  
“I brought tequila!” Raven exclaimed as she burst through the door. It appears she had already been drinking. I was glad that I could no longer wander in my thoughts. She poured some shots and I immediately downed mine. “Woah someone’s thirsty.”  
“Just ready.” I started trying to cover the sadness still lingering in my mind. “Okay I need your guys’ opinion on what to wear,” I walked over to my closet and pulled out a silk green top. “I was thinking this with black jeans and these.” I dug through my closet and found my heeled black boots.  
“Yes, wear that. You’ll look so hot!” Octavia turned to her own closet and pulled out a black body con dress and sneakers. I slipped out of my current clothes and noticed the underwear I was wearing was pale pink and boring with a bralette to match. I shuffled through my underwear drawer and found a black lace thong and quickly changed into it  
“Bra or no bra?” I asked turning back around facing the girls. They all looked up from what they were doing and looked at the shirt that sat on the bed then back to me.  
“No bra.” Harper answered before returning to her makeup. Okay good because I don't want to wear one anyway. I took off my worn-in bralette and slipped the silk shirt on. I finished getting dressed and sat on my bed watching the girls do their makeup. “Are you going to do your makeup? We’re going to be late if you don’t start now.”  
“Um no I’m good with just this.” I waved towards my face. I had put on mascara and lip balm this morning. I think it still looks fine.  
“Oh come on just some lipstick?” Octavia asked, waving a tube of lipstick in my direction. Fine. I grabbed it from her hand and applied it to my lips before rubbing it with my finger so it didn’t look like I was wearing too much.  
The girls didn’t take much longer and we all had another shot before leaving the dorm. Apparently the boys lived in the same building just a level above us. Raven spoke up while walking beside me, “When we applied we all made sure we would live in the same building. And since Bellamy is an RA in this one we figured this would be the best option.” So he’s an RA. As if she could read my face she continued, “He’s two years older than the rest of us and Octavia’s brother. We all grew up on the same block and have never really stopped being friends.” Before I knew it, we were at a room, or what I assume to be his room. Octavia lifts her hand to knock and shortly after the door swings open.  
“Ladies.” Bellamy regards us with an award winning smile. “O.” He said with mock distaste. She smiles and scrunches her nose before entering the room. I walk in last and smile at him. Turning back to the room I noticed that the other two boys were already here. “So, are we ready to get this thing started?” Bellamy calls from behind me.  
Bellamy’s room was the same size as mine but it looked bigger. There weren't any loft beds or any school issued furniture at that. I’m assuming because he’s an RA he gets special privileges. There was a double sized bed pushed into one corner and a futon in the other. There was a desk between the futon and the bed. His room wasn’t messy but you could tell he still hasn’t finished unpacking. I sat on the end of the futon by Octavia. Bellamy pulled out the desk chair and sat down facing everyone.  
“Raven, are you drunk already?” Jasper questions. I looked across the small room to see Raven already swaying.  
“No! I’ve only had 3 shots.” But she didn’t sound so convincing.  
“ So, yes. Everybody knows you’re a lightweight.” Bellamy commented, taking the bottle of tequila from her hands and pouring himself a shot. I watched the movement of his Adam's apple as he knocked the shot back with ease. He is going to cause me problems I can already tell. 

***

We decided to walk to the frat house because it was only 15 minutes away and we were all already tipsy. By the time we got there the party was in full swing. There were a few people in the yard and on the porch but you could hear the music blaring from a block away. I looked up at the massive house and thought about how different my life is now. If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be living in the United States and going to a frat party, I would have never believed you. This has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I just hope that I don’t ruin it by letting my past affect my life here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so I actually hate starting stories. I hate setting things up so bare with for the first few chapters. I promise it'll get better.


End file.
